


The Ed Crumb Trail

by KomaedaClear



Category: Paranatural - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cannibalism, Hansel and Gretel AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-19
Updated: 2015-04-19
Packaged: 2018-03-24 17:12:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3776743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KomaedaClear/pseuds/KomaedaClear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hansel and Gretel AU. Its a ride.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Ed Crumb Trail

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize in advance.
> 
> This is for parytails so enjoy!

The forest was thick and dark, save for the barely illuminated trunks seemingly closing in around the fire. Although big and warm earlier, Ed and Isabel huddled beside one tiny flame. 

They had already ate the pieces of bread long before, and were just now getting hungry again. Isabel closed her eyes, trying to shut out the cold, but could not, and instead went over the events which had taken place earlier.

Poor Francisco Guerra, taking care of two children by himself in the woods. He may have been strong enough to bring down trees for wood, but he could not stand hunger. He had always fed Ed and Isabel first, out of the goodness of his heart, but sometimes he lied. When he was starving and there was only one bread left, he told the children that there was no food because they needed to learn to be stronger, but he would eat the bread himself. Of course, he felt terrible, but convinced himself there would be food one day. Except, on this day, there was word from cottages on farmlands that the food was more scarce than usual, and each household would only get enough to feed one person. Francisco then decided that he would no longer take care of his grandchild and Ed, and instead would keep to himself.

The night he decided this, Isabel and Ed had heard his muttering. Ed was terrified, but Isabel had a plan.

“Wait here, Ed,” she said as she tiptoed out of her room. She went down the stairs, grabbed her coat, and set out in the night. Around her were silver pebbles, small enough to fit a hundred in one pocket, yet bright enough to see against the forest floor. With delicate fingers, she collected the pebbles in two of her pockets, and went back inside with 200 overall. Back in her room, she assured Ed that they would come back. She told him to sleep in peace, but neither of them could, for if Francisco would really abandon them, how could they defend themselves against the forest terrors which lurked outside?

Before the sun rose, Francisco shoved them out of bed. “Get up, we’re going wood hunting!” he yelled. Isabel and Ed were more tired than any other day, and their empty stomachs growled loudly. Last second, Francisco grabbed two pieces of bread and handed them each one.

“Share one now, and eat the other later,” he ordered them. Isabel shared her piece while Ed shoved his in his own coat pocket.

Because the morning was chilly, Isabel’s grandfather threw Isabel’s coat at her. Isabel was caught off guard, but managed to stay standing despite the weight of the pebbles.

Into the forest they walked. Every so often, Isabel would look back the way they came, and Francisco would shout, “Why do you look back when the way is forward?” to which Isabel would say, “I think I see one of the boys of the hunter Richard. Max, I think, would like to say good bye.” Francisco would yell, “That is not Max or Isaac, but a tree! Now keep forward!” Of course, it was not that Isabel was looking for Max or Isaac, but was dropping a pebble, making a trail.  
Once deep into the forest, enough that Francisco was struggling to get his body between the trees yet Ed and Isabel could easily fit through, he stopped. “Fetch some firewood from high up in the trees! I would like to see your tree climbing skills.” It was not that, but for two separate reasons he made them climb trees. The first, he was tired and starving, and needed a rest. The second, he wanted to tire them out so that they may sleep while he walked home.

Isabel and Ed were already tired, and it took a bit longer than noon to set up a small hill of firewood. Francisco lit a match, and the fire blazed, almost licking branches above it.

“Now, lay down by the fire. You deserve a rest. It is cold, so keep warm. I will be back with more wood and then we may go home.” He left in a different direction from whence they came, and Isabel sat alert while Ed dozed off.

She looked for the stones, but she could barely see the one she had last left. Annoyed, she waited longer, but she was much too tired to realize that the silver pebbles only shone underneath moonlight. She fell asleep, and when she awoke, the fire was out and Ed was just waking up. Once the darkness of the night set in Isabel’s mind, she looked and found the pebble she last dropped.

Isabel shook Ed awake and they began to head home, shivering mighty cold. They ate the last piece of bread and as they walked silently, shadows seemed to lurch in front of their view.

One tree moved and walked in front of their path. Although having awoken from deep sleep, Isabel and Ed were still tired, and couldn’t make out the tree until face to face with Max and Isaac.

“Why are you out at night?” Isaac asked. “It’s awfully dark to take a walk, you know,” Max whispered.

Isabel explained their situation, and all four walked to the Guerra cottage. Max and Isaac left them at the doorstep, and walked home themselves.

The sun was just rising again, and Isabel knocked on the door. Francisco opened the door, surprised.

“Where have you been?” he scolded. He ushered them inside and the two slept all day and night without a bite to eat.

Richard Spender delivered some of his bread he had stored, and every day left a piece of bread. Soon, the land had loaves of bread again. For a week.

Once again, there was no more, and Francisco decided that they must go. They mumbled and muttered that night, and Isabel and Ed had heard. isabel went to get more pebbles, but the door was locked, and she was too weak to break it down.

In the morning, they were given two pieces of bread. neither ate. As they walked, Isabel crumbled her bread in her pocket, and dropped a morsel on the ground as she did with the pebbles before. Francisco yelled, “Why do you stop?” and Isabel replied, “I am looking for the dog that follows me around.” Francisco huffed in disapproval. “There is no dog, only your imagination!”

They went deeper than before, with barely any light, and made the fire again, this time by cutting off the tops of the trees. This was more exhausting, and as the fire was made, they dozed off. Francisco explained that he would be back, and Isabel and Ed barely heard him as they slept.

They awoke at night, and Isabel looked for the crumbs, but there was none, for they had been eaten by spirited birds and dark-hearted mice.

The fire was still going, and they ate the bread, and it is as now. Darkness creeping in from every direction, and Isabel shaking, trying to find a way out of this mess. Morning came, and, terrified, they searched and searched for a path home. They built a fire but it was small and did nothing to get rid of the cold, and the next morning they searched again. The same routine for the next morning as well, but it was to no avail.

They chose a direction that morning, and walked. Without any rest or food, they would die pretty soon. They walked and walked deeper and deeper, with no knowledge of any way they would go.

It was when Ed’s nose caught the whif of sugar that they mustered up their strength and jogged up to a house. The house, however, was not a house, for it was made out of candy. Gingerbread walls and clear sugar window. Cake icing on the borders and cakes along its bottom. Ed began shoving the cakes into his face as Isabel began nawing at the side of the house.

They then heard a skree from the front door. “Neh, who is eating my house?”

Ed put his hand up in the air. “Ed and Isabel, old lady.”

The old lady came out. “Neh, violence onto my house will not be tolerated!” She looked at them, and, although her old ugly face did not soften, her voice did. “Oh, poor children, look as though you haven’t ate for days! Come in, I will feed you!”

Reluctantly, the starving children followed her inside. The old lady sat them at a table and set out fruits and desserts, which were devoured in an instant.

“This was good,” Isabel began as she pat her stomach, “but Ed and I are both very tired. Do you have a place to sleep?”

“Neh, oh yes I do. Come with me.” The old lady led them both to white linen beds which were like soft marshmallows, and they both fell asleep instantly.

The old lady snickered as she cleaned her table. She wasn’t really kind, but actually Vice Principal of Hell, and she devoured children which came to her house. She had built the house herself in order to draw children in. Once they were fed nice and full and fat, she would kill them, cook them, and eat them. Sometimes as a soup, sometimes in pieces, and, on the rare occasions, raw.

Vice Principals of Hell always had long noses and sharp glasses, keen for knowing how to cook human beings. When she first saw the two children, her nose had waggled and her glasses shone. She was going to cook Isabel up about feeding her, and Ed would work for her until she can eat his ribs.

In the night, she grabbed Isabel and locked her up, and told Ed to prepare a feast for Isabel. Ed, not knowing Isabel was locked up, cooked up a rabbit, made chicken soup for her soul, and helped the Vice Principal cook some apple pie. Then, when she sent Ed out to collect more apples, she force fed Isabel all of the food. When Ed came back, she explained that Isabel had came and ate, and left to go home.

Weeks went by, and bitter Ed made food for the old lady, which the old lady fattened Isabel up with. Then, Ed was told to boil a large cauldron. As the water grew hot, the old lady told him to chop the vegetables while she got the meat. they were to have a big stew that night.

The old lady took Isabel into the woods, stripped her clothes and burned them. Then, she chopped her limbs off. Isabel couldn’t scream because peanut butter tape held her mouth shut, and then her head was chopped off like a chicken once her limbs were done.

In the kitchen, the old lady quickly heated the oven and cooked Isabel inside as Ed gathered the vegetables. Then, Isabel was diced into squares, and dumped into the boiling water. Ed added the vegetables, and complimented the smell. The old lady agreed.

As they ate, Ed asked which kind of meat the old lady used. “Neh, guess,” she said.

“Chicken?”

“No.”

“Pork?”

“No.”

“Cow?”

“No.”

“Turkey, then?”

“No.” With each guess, the old lady smiled wider and wider yet.

“I’m stumped. Please tell me?”

She nodded. “Finish all of the soup with me, and then I shall tell you.”

Ed ate most of it, tasting the meat over and over again to try to guess the taste. Once the cauldron was empty, Ed was too stuffed to move.

“Now will you tell me?” Ed asked.

The old lady nodded. “It was Isabel. I stuffed her with every meal you made just so we could eat her and have you stuffed to eat as well.”

Ed’s face paled in horror. The old lady dragged him into a cell to be cooked up the next day, which he was.


End file.
